The sheet to print
The working summer abroad: the sheet to keep
Six reflexes, from the backpack to the employment office. Each one carries the text it stands on.
File EU 2004/38
This page is made to be printed: when printing, the whole screen around it disappears.
Law as verified onJuly 29, 2026
- 01
Travel with your identity card, and beware of invented documents
Up to three months, no residence condition or formality other than holding a valid identity card or passport. The “seasonal permit” and the “European trainee statute” appear in no text of this file.
Article 6(1) · Directive 2004/38/EC (free movement and residence), Article 6 (Right of residence for up to three months), paragraph 1 · eur-lex.europa.eu - 02
Check the country's presence-reporting rule, and do it fast
Some countries require presence to be reported to the town hall or the local police within a reasonable period. Identity card in hand, a procedure that should be free; in a hotel, the reception form normally takes care of it.
Section “Reporting presence for short stays of less than 3 months” · Reporting presence for short stays: the report itself · europa.eu - 03
Know the possible penalty, and what it is not
Failing to report your presence cannot cost you expulsion; some countries may charge a fine. The official page speaks of a penalty, such as a fine: it gives an example, it sets no maximum. Do the formality, and let nobody turn it into a threat of removal.
Section “Reporting presence for short stays of less than 3 months” · Reporting presence for short stays: the possible obligation and its sanction · europa.eu - 04
Do not apply for a work permit: answer with the official page
An EU citizen generally does not need a work permit in the EU, and a permit is never required for the self-employed. Keep the “generally”: it covers rare special regimes.
Section “Work permits” · Work permits: EU citizens · europa.eu - 05
Demand the country's scale, and the advantages that go with it
No pay difference by reason of nationality, and the same social and tax advantages as national workers. Any “European regulations” clause without a reference is challenged by asking for the article.
Article 7(1) and (2) · Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 (freedom of movement for workers), Article 7 (equal treatment), paragraphs 1 and 2 · eur-lex.europa.eu - 06
Use the local employment office like a national of the country
The same assistance as that afforded to the country's nationals is owed to you for seeking work. Income support, for its part, may be withheld for the first three months: claim the support, not the immediate allowance.
Article 5 · Regulation (EU) No 492/2011, Article 5 (the assistance of employment offices) · eur-lex.europa.eu
General information on the European baseline, not legal advice on your case. Independent educational site, unconnected to the institutions of the European Union. The redress links in this file point only to official bodies.
Sources checked on July 29, 2026. · https://depleindroit.odersa.org/en/fiches/le-stage-a-l-etranger · Content licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What the law owes you
Every right with its amount or its deadline, the extract of the official text it rests on, and its address.
A stay of under three months on the identity card alone
Up to three months, residence in another Member State knows no condition or formality other than holding a valid identity card or passport. No permit, no visa, no statute to apply for, for the jobber as for the trainee.
The official text · Article 6(1)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02004L0038-20110616“Union citizens shall have the right of residence on the territory of another Member State for a period of up to three months without any conditions or any formalities other than the requirement to hold a valid identity card or passport.”
Reporting presence, a bounded formality where it exists
Some countries require presence to be reported to the relevant authorities, often the town hall or the local police, within a reasonable period. The identity document is all you need, the procedure should be free, and in a hotel a reception form usually settles everything.
The official text · Section “Reporting presence for short stays of less than 3 months”
Your Europe · European Union · https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/documents-formalities/reporting-presence/index_en.htm“All you need to report your presence as EU national is your identity card or passport […] You should not have to pay any fees. If you are staying in a hotel, it is usually enough to fill in a special form - the hotel will take care of the rest.”
A forgotten report risks a penalty, never expulsion
You cannot be expelled for failing to report your presence; some countries may however charge you a fine. The official page writes “a penalty, such as a fine”: that is an example, not a ceiling. What it does rule out, it rules out plainly: expulsion.
The official text · Section “Reporting presence for short stays of less than 3 months”
Your Europe · European Union · https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/documents-formalities/reporting-presence/index_en.htm“Some EU countries require you to report your presence to the relevant authorities (often the town hall or local police station) within a reasonable period of time after arrival and may impose a penalty, such as a fine if you fail to do so. […] In some EU countries, failure to report your presence might result in a fine, but you cannot be expelled just for this.”
A summer job without a work permit, generally
An EU citizen generally does not need a work permit to work in the EU. The official page's “generally” covers rare special regimes, not two months of waiting tables.
The official text · Section “Work permits”
Your Europe · European Union · https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/work-abroad/work-permits/index_en.htm“As an EU national you generally don't need a work permit to work anywhere in the EU. Work permits are never required for self-employed people in the EU.”
Same pay scale, same advantages as the country's seasonal workers
A worker from another Member State cannot be treated differently by reason of nationality for conditions of employment and work, remuneration first, and enjoys the same social and tax advantages. The “foreigners scale” has no legal existence.
The official text · Article 7(1) and (2)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011R0492-20210801“1. A worker who is a national of a Member State may not, in the territory of another Member State, be treated differently from national workers by reason of his nationality in respect of any conditions of employment and work, in particular as regards remuneration, dismissal, and, should he become unemployed, reinstatement or re-employment. 2. He shall enjoy the same social and tax advantages as national workers.”
The same assistance from the employment office as the country's nationals
Whoever seeks employment in another Member State receives there the same assistance as that afforded by that State's employment offices to their own nationals. Registration, offers and support included.
The official text · Article 5
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011R0492-20210801“A national of a Member State who seeks employment in the territory of another Member State shall receive the same assistance there as that afforded by the employment offices in that State to their own nationals seeking employment.”
The written limit: income support can wait out the first three months
The host country may withhold entitlement to income support or other benefits for the first three months of residence, the official example being the seasonal worker who applies after a month's work, and even longer for someone arriving as a jobseeker.
The official text · Section “Equal treatment at work”
Your Europe · European Union · https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/work-abroad/equal-treatment-with-nationals/index_en.htm“you must also be treated in exactly the same way as your local colleagues who are citizens of the country when it comes to working rights, social benefits and access to public employment services. […] However, your host country may decide to withhold your entitlement to income support […] for the first 3 months of your residence (for example if you came as a seasonal worker, worked 1 month and then applied for income support), and for even longer if you arrive in the country as a job-seeker.”
This site is educational and independent: it is not an official site of the European Union, and this verdict is not legal advice on your case. The wordings quoted are copied from the official texts and the official pages, whose link appears under each right.
File EU 2004/38
The items in this file
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